The invention relates generally to ink cartridges for ink jet printers, and in particular to an ink cartridge that has a connectable housing and ink supply bag.
The cross-referenced applications filed Aug. 16, 2001 disclose an ink cartridge that has a connectable-disconnectable housing and ink supply bag.
The disclosed cartridge includes an ink bag containing an ink supply, an ink egress snout attached to the ink bag and from which the ink supply is discharged from the ink bag, and a split collar that receives or mates with the snout via an annular rib on the collar and an annular groove on the snout. The collar when mated with the snout can be rotated about the snout to any one of a number of allowable orientations. The particular orientation of the collar that is selected serves to identify the ink supply in the ink bag.
A pair of housing halves for the ink bag when connected together form a bottom opening for the collar. The bottom opening is bounded by multi-sided edges of the housing halves. The collar has a peripheral recess with a multi-sided floor that complements the multi-sided edges. This permits the collar when arranged in any one of the orientations to be trapped in the bottom opening to prevent rotation of the collar relative to the snout. Moreover, it serves to secure the bag to the housing halves.
According to one aspect of the invention, an ink cartridge comprising an ink supply bag, a housing for the bag, and a fitting attached to the bag and including an ink egress snout for discharging an ink supply from the bag, is characterized in that:
the housing and the fitting are connected to secure the bag within the housing, but can be disconnected; and
the housing has stakes that are adhered to the fitting to hold the fitting fast to the housing in order to prevent the fitting from being disconnected from the housing.
According to another aspect of the invention, an ink cartridge comprising an ink supply bag, a fitting attached to the bag and including an integral ink egress snout, and a pair of housing halves that contain the bag and at respective wall portions have opening halves that form a bottom opening for the snout when the housing halves are connected together, is characterized in that:
the fitting and only one of the wall portions each have mutually engageable members that engage to connect the fitting and the one wall portion to secure the bag within the housing half that includes the one wall portion; and
the housing half that includes another of the wall portions has stakes that are adhered to the engageable members of the fitting and/or the engageable members of the housing half that includes the one wall portion.
According to another aspect of the invention, a method of partially assembling a ink cartridge including an ink supply bag, a housing that is to contain the bag, and a fitting for the bag which has an ink egress snout for discharging an ink supply from the bag, comprises:
attaching the fitting to the bag;
connecting the housing and the fitting to one another; and
adhering to the fitting a plurality of stakes that project from the housing to hold the fitting fast to the housing.